Method of and apparatus for improving research and/or communication interaction with animals such as dolphins and the like, and providing more facile communication with humans lacking speaking capability

ABSTRACT

A novel method and microprocessor-controlled apparatus are provided for improving research and/or communication interaction between human and animals, such as dolphins and the like, or between normal humans and speech-impaired humans, by playing back audible pre-recorded human-language phrases corresponding to and descriptive of the meaning of sounds and/or gestures or responses produced by the animal or the speech-impaired human and in response to stimuli, conditions or environmental events to which the animal (or impaired human) is subjected, wherein the pre-recorded phrases represent what the human would say or describe if subjected to such stimuli, conditions or environmental events; such that during actual real-time interacting with the animals (or such impaired humans) one actually hears “from” the animal or speech-impaired human, spoken language phrases descriptive of their condition.

[0001] The present invention relates generally to research, training andcommunication interaction between humans and particularly the moreintelligent and communicative of animals, such as dolphins and the like,being also concerned with humans impaired in speaking capability; theinvention having more specific concern with converting studied animal orhuman sounds, gestures, responses, reflexes or movements produced duringand associated with different specific behavioral actions, functions,responses or intentions, into human-language words and phrasesdescriptive of such, so that the researcher or communicator is put in amore useful posture of actual language “communication” as to the meaningof the sounds, gestures, responses or movements as they are produced inreal time.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Many studies have been conducted with intelligent, responsive andexpressive animals, such as dolphins, whales, chimpanzees, gorillas andothers, trying to bridge the gap of communication, understanding andinteraction with humans. Distinctive audible “clicks” and chirps andother tones have been observed with dolphins in various functionalpursuits and responses and such, indeed, have been used to identify someelements of behavior including in popular movies and televisionprograms, such as the noted “Flipper” programs. (See, also, V. M. Janik,Science, Vol. 289,1355 (2000)). The “songs” of whales have been recordedand associated with courting, distress and other behavioral conditions.Somewhat similar sound emissions have also been noted with chimps andother primates, some of which have been stimulated to carry outelementary logic functions.

[0003] In all these efforts, however, the human researcher, trainer orcommunicator, in real-time interaction with the animals, has tore-interpret continually the various familiar sounds or gestures ormovements as the animals prepare to perform or do behavioral orresponsive patterns associated therewith. If only the animal could tellthe human in human language each time it was performing, about toperform, responding to, or intending to embark on some behavioralpattern, or was reacting to conditions or stimuli, the researcher,trainer and/or communicator could be put on a new level of startingpoint to proceed onward in the interaction.

[0004] It is toward this end that the present invention is accordinglydirected; the invention, in effect, putting human language utterancesdescriptive of the animal feelings, condition, needs, action or responseeffectively “in the mouth” of the animals—or at least making it seem so,for all intents and purposes.

[0005] Perhaps more importantly, moreover, the invention also enablesmore facile “communication” with speech-impaired humans who aredeficient at least in speaking capability.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION

[0006] It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a newand improved method of and apparatus for improving interactivecommunication with such intelligent animals as dolphins and the like,through a technique of first correlating specific animal sounds,gestures, responses, reflexes, or behavioral movements withcorresponding particular conditions, environmental stimuli, conduct,emotion or responses of the animals, and associating such withcorresponding human language sets of words and phrases descriptivethereof; and then emitting such words as if actually “spoken” to theobserver by the animal as the animal subsequently produces such sounds,gesture, responses, reflexes or movements in real time as indications ofintentions.

[0007] A further object is to provide such novel “communication” by atechnique that is readily generally adaptable to other intelligentbeings, as well—most importantly to humans with speech impairment orincapability; and certainly, also, to other animals than dolphins thathave varying degrees of interactable intelligence.

[0008] Still another object is to provide an improved facile computermicroprocessor-controlled apparatus of this character that gives greatflexibility in producing video/audio recordings with such “talking”animals.

[0009] Other and further objects will be detailed hereinafter and aremore fully delineated in the appended claims.

SUMMARY

[0010] In summary, however, from one of its aspects, the inventionembraces a method of improving communication and understanding betweenhumans capable of speaking and listening to audible language words andphrases of human-cognitive intelligent meaning, and animals, such asdolphins, capable of producing varied signals including gestures andemitted sounds of human-audible, detectable frequencies and frequenciesoutside the human-audible range and that are associated with variedanimal behavioral functions, responses and intentions, the methodcomprising, sensing, monitoring and storing varied animal signalsincluding patterns of gestures and/or animal sounds, while observing thecorresponding simultaneous varied behavioral functions, responses andintentions associated substantially with such signals and patterns;correlating the stored signals including the sound patterns as observedto be associated with the corresponding behavioral functions, responsesand intentions, and creating a stored library data base therefrom;recording in audible human language, sets of words and phrasescorrespondingly descriptive of what a human might generally audibly sayor describe if it were the human who was performing the same behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions; correlating the varied humanlanguage recordings with the varied correlated stored animal signals andpatterns in the data base corresponding to those behavioral functions,responses and intentions; associatively storing the correlated recordedhuman sets of words and phrases in the data base; and, during subsequentreal-time interacting with such animals, or studying visual recordingsthereof, automatically playing back audibly the correlated recorded setof human words and phrases identifying the animal's actual performanceof the corresponding behavioral function, response and intention.

[0011] As before stated, the use of the technique of the invention alsoshows promise in improved communication with incapacitated humansdeficient in speaking capability.

[0012] Preferred techniques and apparatus design and best modes for thesame are hereinafter explained.

DRAWINGS

[0013] The invention will now be described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, FIG. 1 of which is a combined operational blockand flow diagram illustrating the operation of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of preferred apparatus forcarrying out the method of the invention with sound emissions from ananimal or speaking-impaired human;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a similar diagram for responding to sensed body or bodypart movement, gestures or body language;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a photograph of correlating observations in Islemarada,Fla. of dolphins assisting in research preparations of the Academy ofApplied Science for their then intended underwater research at LochNess, Scotland, with flashing light-elapsed time camera andsonar-triggering apparatus supported in harness assemblies; (SeeTechnology Review (MIT), August/September, 1979, p. 3);

[0017]FIG. 5 is a photograph of the dolphin trained to conduct abehavioral response of leaping out of the water to take a picture by thecamera of FIG. 4 of the trainer; and

[0018]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustration of combined usage ofthe systems of FIGS. 2 and 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

[0019] Referring to the flow diagram of FIG. 1, the invention, as beforesummarized, contemplates creating an extensive stored data base ofsignals representing sounds and/or gestures, movements or body“language” produced by the subject, such as an intelligent animal or aspeech-impaired human, as by video-monitoring or otherwise observing andnoting varied behavioral functions, responses, reactions and/orindicated intentions and the like of the subject as in step A, andcorrelating the sound patterns (step B) and the gesture or body languagepatterns (step C) with such behavioral functions. A table of suchcorrelations is stored in memory 10-10′, FIG. 2, or 20-20′, FIG. 3 (stepD, FIG. 1) of a microprocessor chip 1, FIG. 2, and/or 1′, FIG. 3,respectively, as an accessible look-up table.

[0020] Customary sets of words or phrases, that humans would normallysay or describe if it were they who were performing these differingbehavioral functions, responses, or intentions and the like, arerecorded (step F, FIG. 1), correlated (step G) with the correspondingbehavioral functions, etc. and stored in memories 10-10 ¹, FIG. 2 and/or20-20 ¹, FIG. 3. Upon determining a correlation or match, thecorresponding pre-recorded set of words and phrases of human languageare accessed and retrieved (step K) in the memory 10-10 ¹¹ and 20-20 ¹¹of respective FIGS. 2 and 3, and simultaneously audibly played back(step L) through the loudspeaker(s) 14 (14 ¹) during the subsequentperforming of the behavioral functions, etc., as if the subject werespeaking the same. The volume of the playback may be adjusted (amplifier12, FIG. 2) to mask or override the actual natural subject-emittedsounds so that the illusion of actual human language communication orspeaking is created, particularly when the sensing, storage and playbackcomponents are positioned on the “person” of the animal so that the“speaking” comes from the animal.

[0021] As before explained, this “speaking” raises the posture of thereal-time trainer and/or communicator to a level of further explorationand interaction, without having to re-interpret the meaning ofpreviously observed behavioral functions, responses, etc. It also makesit more comfortable and easier to relate to the subject.

[0022] The exemplary implementation, parts of which in FIGS. 2 and 3were earlier referenced, involves a sound sensor or monitormicrophone(s) 2, FIG. 2, for picking up the emitted sound signals of thesubject during performing the behavioral functions, responses, etc. andapplying the same to a detector or receiver 4 for analyzing the receivedsound pattern and feeding along path 3 to a comparator 6 for seekingpossible correlation with a sound pattern earlier stored in the look-uptable data base 10-10 ¹ and applied to the comparator by path 7. Wheresuper-audible sounds are emitted, a well-known heterodyne receivingcircuit may beat the same down to the audible range as at HR. In thecase of whale or other sub-audible animal sounds, these may also beheterodyned up to the audible range. If there is a match or correlationat 6, an output signal is fed at 5 to the part of the microprocessormemory 10-10 ¹¹ where the correlated word and phase sets are stored, toselect and access the corresponding appropriate word and phrase setwhich, as retrieved at 9 and fed through amplifier 12, is audibly playedas words through loudspeaker 14. By locating such loudspeaker as animplant on the animal, such as on a dolphin as shown in FIG. 2, or nearthe head of a speech-impaired human, the words will seem to emanate fromthe respective subjects themselves.

[0023] By similar token, in connection with sensing and monitoringgestures, movements and body language associated with correlatedbehavioral functions, etc., movement transducer sensors 2 ¹ areprovided, associated with the microprocessor chip, FIG. 3, and applied,for example, to different parts of the body (shown at 1 ¹B near thedolphin mouth in FIG. 3 and near the head at 1 ¹A and neck at 1 ¹C, forexample; and near the eyelid or eye at 1 ¹A¹ for the speech-impairedhuman, at the forehead 1 ¹B¹, ear 1 ¹C¹, mouth 1 ¹H¹, neck 1 ¹D¹,shoulder 1 ¹E¹, arm-elbow 1¹I¹, hand 1 ¹F¹ and stomach 1 ¹G¹—all asexemplary locations on the “person”). Correlation at 6 ¹ of sensed bodypart movements with behavioral patterns stored in the table at 20-20 ¹will achieve retrieval from the pre-recorded memory bank 20-20 ¹¹ of theappropriate human language words, and play-back through the amplifier 12¹ driving loudspeaker 14 ¹. The plurality of sensors may have separatechips or all use a common chip, as shown; and a single chip andloudspeaker 14 ¹ may service multiple sensors placed at different partsof the body, the sensor signals being transmitted as by radio(wireless), infrared or other communicating transmission to the signalreceiver and analyzer 4 ¹ of the chip.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 6, moreover, both sounds and gestures may bemonitored together as well as separately by operation of switches S-S¹,and with a list, for example, of dolphin sound and gesture and/or bodylanguage actions noted to be correlated with corresponding behavioralfunctions, some of which were earlier noted in said Academy of AppliedScience Islamorada tests, being presented in Tables A and B below asillustrations: TABLE A Observed Correlated Correlated Created HumanObserved and/or Detected Function, Response or Voice Recording ForDistinctive Sound Pattern Intention Playback 1. After towing a dingyby 1. Conditioned for fish to be fed 1. “I'd like my fish”. (Stored inrope, dolphin head surfaced with (stored in look-up table 10¹, FIG.10¹¹, FIG. 2) a single clack in audible 2) frequency range (microphone2, FIG. 2) 2. Submerging horizontally and 2. Either about to swim away2. “I'm taking off”. then starting frequency - close to and along an(10¹¹) modulated pulsing in 35-40 kHz embankment or in close range -apparently sonar formation with another dolphin (microphone 2 andheterodyne receiver HR associated with sound pattern analyzer 4, FIG. 2)Observed Distinctive Gesture or Observed Behavioral Function or BodyLanguage Intention 1. After towing dinghy by rope, 1. Conditioned forfish as 1. “I'll pull you further when nudging side of dinghy by headprelude to picking up rope in you feed me fish”. and surfacing whileopening mouth and continuing towing mouth (angles of about 20-30°) andsingle clack 2. With permanent harness 2. Total slow-down of 2. “I'm notcomfortable carrying assembly around head in back of swimming and infollowing this equipment in this position”. eyes, carrying flash cameraand conditioned travel sequences sonar trigger cylinders, restrictedunderwater swimming consistently at or under ½ knot 3. Picking up avoluntary 3. a) Ready picking up of harness 3. a) “I'll pick up the gearand camera-carrying assembly after with equipment (camera) exploreunderwater”. noting the voluntary nature of its assembly and swimminginto it ready applying and dropping, and underwater with same (See andunderwater swimming Technology Review article, resuming at =/>3 knotswith the supra) camera assembly b) Ready self-removing of b) “Enough fornow.” harness assembly to float the equipment 4. Eyelid blinking atflashing rate 4. Slow travel; sluggish 4. “This flashing light is ofcarried strobe rapid elapsed- bothering me.” time camera (once/per 3seconds) 5. Fast travel as if no flashing 5. Normal fast travel,ignoring 5. “I'm comfortable with the equipment were being carriedcarried equipment equipment. No bother.” upon adjusting harness-strappedcamera to nearer belly 6. Upon hand signal, vertical 6. Breaking waterin vertical 6. “Taking your picture.” jump out of water directly inposture facing trainer (FIG. 5) front of trainer carrying automaticcamera assembly facing trainer.

[0025] TABLE B Few Exemplary Sound and/or Gesture Correlations WithBehavioral Function, Condition, Response Expression and/or Intention,And Corresponding Human Voice Recordings For Playback.Speech-Incapacitated Human Behavioral Function Condition CorrelatedHuman Voice Sound And/Or Gesture Pattern Response, Intention RecordingFor Playback 1A. Wincing (sensors 1¹H¹ and 1. Stomach ache 1. “I havestomach pains” 1¹ B¹, FIG. 3) accompanied by (“upset tummy”). stomachmuscle contractions (sensor 1¹G¹) and/or hand on stomach (sensor 1¹F¹)1B. Low grunt or groan sounds 1. Stomach ache 1. “I have stomach pains”(microphone 2, FIG. 2) while (“upset tummy”). stomach musclecontractions (sensor 1¹G¹, FIG. 3) 2. Scowling (1¹B¹) 2. Headache 2. “Myhead aches”. 3. Squinting (eye sensors 1¹A¹, 3. Bright light disturbance3. “The light's bothering me”. FIG. 3) 4. Grasping one arm with other 4.Bumping elbow or arm cramp 4. “My arm (elbow) hurts”. hand (sensor 1¹I¹,FIG. 3) and/or groan (microphone 2, FIG. 2) 5. Flexing neck (sensor1¹D¹, 5. Neck strain or kink 5. “My neck is stiff”. 1¹E¹, FIG. 3) andrubbing with hand (sensor 1¹F¹) 6. Waving arm in simulated 6. Intends orwants to play 6. “I'd like to play tennis (golf or swing tennis (golf,or swim) swim).”

[0026] From a less significant viewpoint, but perhaps a commerciallyinteresting tack, elementary sounds from apparently less intelligentanimals, such as cats and dogs, etc., may be similarly used to develop“speaking” toy attachments to collars for pleasing the owners;responding, for example, to a cat purring sound picked up by a miniatureversion of FIG. 1, for example, and triggering human language sentencessuch as “I want to be cuddled”, “pick me up”, or “keep cuddling me”,etc.; and an occasional “meow” triggering “I need attention” or “whereis my food”, etc.; and a more continuous “meowing” creating phrases suchas “I'm not happy”, etc. Similarly, video/audio recordings of the“communication” between humans and animals as produced in accordancewith the invention, may also be entertaining.

[0027] Equipment components and implementations are extremelywell-known, though not heretofore arranged, configured or adapted forthe specific purposes of the invention. For such purposes, exemplarysuitable such devices include, as illustrations: Motorola AN 1517semiconductor pressure and movement sensors and signal processingcircuitry (see Motorola document AN 1517D, 1995); Motorola AN1326temperature-compensated semiconductor pressure sensors, microcontrollerunit and software for signal conditioning (see Motorola document AN1326/D., 1993); and Information Storage Devices ISD1100 “Chip Corder”series of single chip voice recorder/playback device with microphone,speaker-amplifier, non-volatile memory cells and high-qualitysolid-state voice reproduction (see ISD ISD100 “Chip Corder” Seriesbulletin, April 1998).

[0028] Further modifications will also occur to those skilled in thisart and such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of improving communication andunderstanding between humans capable of speaking and listening toaudible language words and phrases of human-cognitive intelligentmeaning, and animals capable of producing varied signals includinggestures and emitted sounds of human-audible detectable frequencies andof frequencies outside the human-audible range and that are associatedwith varied animal behavioral functions, responses to stimuli andintentions, the method comprising, sensing, monitoring and storingvaried animal signals including patterns of gestures and/or sounds,while observing the corresponding simultaneous varied behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions associated substantially with suchsignals and patterns; correlating the stored signals including the soundpatterns as observed to be associated with the corresponding behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions, and creating a stored library database therefrom; recording in audible human language, sets of words andphrases correspondingly descriptive of what a human might generallyaudibly say or describe if it were the human who was performing the samebehavioral functions, responses and intentions; correlating the variedhuman language recordings with the varied correlated animal sounds andpatterns stored in the data base corresponding to those behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions; associatively storing thecorrelated recorded sets of human words and phrases, in the data base;and, during subsequent real-time interacting with such animals orstudying visual recordings thereof, automatically playing back audiblythe correlated recorded set of human words and phrases identifying theanimal's actual performance of the corresponding behavioral function,response and intention.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensing,storing, recording and audible playback are effected on the person ofthe animal, and positioned thereon, such that the audibly played backhuman words and phrases appear to come from the animal.
 3. The method asclaimed in claim 2 and in which the audible playback is adjusted to alevel that is discernable over any naturally emitted animal sounds. 4.The method as claimed in claim 2 and in which the behavioral function isaccompanied by emitted animal sounds in the audible spectrum and outsidesuch spectrum.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 4 and in which thesounds outside such spectrum are monitored by heterodyning the same tothe audible spectrum.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 2 and in whichthe behavioral function involves animal gesturing movements or bodylanguage.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the animalsinclude dolphins.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 3 and in which afurther recording is produced for viewer entertainment, documenting theaudible human language communication interchange between human andanimal.
 9. Apparatus for improving communication and understandingbetween humans capable of speaking and listening to audible languagewords and phrases of human-cognitive intelligent meaning, and animalscapable of producing varied signals including gestures and emittedsounds of human-audibly detectable frequencies and outside the humanaudible range, and that are associated with varied animal behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions, said apparatus having, incombination, a microprocessor provided with a storage data basecomprising a catalog of said varied animal-produced signals ascorrelated with corresponding animal behavioral functions, responses andintentions, and a corresponding set of recorded human language sets ofwords and phrases correspondingly descriptive of what a human mightgenerally say or describe if the human were performing the samebehavioral functions, responses and intentions and correlated therewith;and means operable to sense and monitor the interacting with suchanimals and controlled by said microprocessor for automatically playingback audibly the correlated recorded set of human words and phrases inresponse to the sensing of the animal's actual subsequent performance ofthe correlated behavioral function, response and intention.
 10. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein each of the microprocessorsensing, storing and audible playing back is effected on the person ofthe animal, and positioned thereon such that the audibly played backhuman words and phrases appear to come from the animal.
 11. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 9 and in which means is provided foradjusting the playback level discernibly to be heard above any naturallyemitted animal sounds.
 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 and inwhich the behavioral function is accompanied by emitted sounds in theaudible spectrum and outside the audible spectrum.
 13. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 12 and in which the sounds outside such spectrum aremonitored by means for heterodyning the same into the audible spectrum.14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 and in which a video/audiorecording is produced for viewer entertainment, documenting the audiblehuman language communication interchange between human and animal. 15.The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 and in which the behavioral functioninvolves animal gesturing movements or body-language.
 16. A method ofenabling improved communication and understanding between humans capableof speaking and listening to audible language words and phrases ofhuman-cognitive intelligent meaning, and impaired humans defective atleast in such speaking capability, but capable of providing variedsignals including gestures and/or emitted sounds that are associatedwith varied behavioral functions, responses and intentions, said methodcomprising, sensing, monitoring and storing the varied impaired-humansignals, including patterns of gestures and/or sounds, while observingthe corresponding simultaneous varied behavioral functions, responsesand intentions associated substantially with such signals and patterns;correlating the stored signals including the gesture and or/soundpatterns as monitored to be associated with the corresponding behavioralfunctions, responses and intentions, and creating a stored library database therefrom; recording in audible human language, sets of words andphrases correspondingly descriptive of what a normal human mightgenerally audibly say or describe if it were the normal human who wasperforming the same behavioral functions, responses and intentions asperformed by the impaired human; correlating the varied languagerecordings with the varied correlated gesture and/or sound patternsstored in the data base, and storing the correlated recorded sets ofwords and phrases in the data base; and, during subsequent interactingwith the speech-impaired human, automatically playing back audibly thecorrelated recorded set of words and phrases identifying the actualperformance of the corresponding behavioral function, response orintention of the impaired human.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein eachof the sensing, storing, recording and audible playback are effected onthe person of the impaired human, and positioned thereon such that theaudibly played-back human words and phrases appear to come from theimpaired human.
 18. A method of improving research and/or communicationinteraction between humans and animals, such as dolphins and the like,or between normal humans and at least speech-impaired humans, thatcomprises, playing back audible pre-recorded human-language phrasescorresponding to and descriptive of the meaning of sounds and/orgestures or responses produced by the animal or the speech-impairedhuman in response to stimuli, conditions or environmental events towhich the animal or impaired human is subjected; correlating saidpre-recorded phrases to represent what the normal human would say ordescribe if subjected to such stimuli, conditions or environmentalevents; and, during actual real-time interacting with the animals orsuch impaired humans, causing such playing back to appear to emanatefrom the person of such animal or speech-impaired human, as if actuallyspeaking.